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Training Material available (in original Spanish):
Eliminando Barreras Construyendo Oportunidades
Disabled Peoples' International, an international non-governmental organization, which has affiliates in more than 120 countries and has consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, will hold its Fifth World Assembly at Mexico City, from 1-7 December 1998, on the theme "Towards an inclusive twenty-first century" (http://www.dpi.org).
To prepare for this major event, DPI organized in cooperation with the Government of Mexico and the Mexican National DPI affiliate at Tepic, State of Nayarit, from19-25 August 1997 a leadership training workshop and technical exchange on disability action, with the theme "Eliminating barriers and creating opportunities for persons with disabilities".
The curriculum for the training workshop was developed and implemented by Disabled Peoples' International in collaboration with the DPI-Mexico National Assembly, affiliated organizations in Mexico, and with technical inputs from the National Council on Rehabilitation and Special Education of Costa Rica, and the United Nations Latin American Institute for Crime Prevention and Treatment of Offenders, its "Programme on women, justice and gender" in particular (http://www.ilanud.or.cr).
The workshop was attended by more than 125 delegates representing state and national-level disability organizations from 25 States in Mexico.
The information exchange and leadership training workshop was organized to deal with a number of practical pre-World Assembly planning and organizational requirements. The workshop also sought to promote increased awareness of the disability perspective in policies and programmes and to build capacities for disability action among interested governmental and non-governmental offices in Mexico:
- To provide a brief introduction to the objectives and main themes of the Fifth DPI World Assembly (Mexico City, 1 - 7 December, 1998) so that delegates of disability organizations from various regions of Mexico, governmental officials, and people with disabilities are better able to participate in Assembly preparations and proceedings.
- To discuss accessibility issues related to environmental and architectural barriers and universal design approaches to accommodations and transportation.
- To discuss cultural and attitudinal issues related to disability.
- To discuss international norms and standards concerning the rights of persons with disabilities and mechanisms that can be used for public information and advocacy.
- To discuss the role of the United Nations with regard to international norms and standards related to persons with disabilities.
- To discuss strategies and measures to advocate the disability perspective in policies and programmes.
- To review and discuss the role of the non-governmental community, including DPI and its national and regional affiliates, concerning cooperation with international organizations to promote greater understanding and awareness of disability issues and to further the rights of persons with disabilities.
A leadership training workshop and presentations of field experiences were conducted in conjunction with the technical exchanges. The training focused on strategies and measures to eliminate barriers and create opportunities for full and effective participation by persons with disabilities in social life and development.
Day one (20 August 1997)
1. Leadership Training
- Understanding your constituency
- Understanding your community
- Understanding your government and legislature
- How to advocate your cause
- How to become an effective leader
2. Organizational Planning
- Understanding your organization
- The mission of your organization
- The value of your organization
- The areas of strategic focus
- The vision of the future
- Understanding organizational resources, competencies and constituent needs
- How to evaluate the structure, capacities and progress of your organization
Day two (21 August 1997)
1. Accessibility issues and universal design concepts
- The importance of barrier-free conference and meeting locations
- How to remove architectural barriers with the support of governmental and community resources
- What is universal design and what are relevant international standards of accessibility
2. Attitudinal issues related to disability
- Psychological aspects of disability from a cross-cultural perspective
- Sociological aspects of disability
- The portrayal of persons with disabilities in the media and the society
- The societal perception of disability
Day three (22 August 22 1997)
1. Selected United Nations documents and international norms and standards related to disability issues and the rights of persons with disabilities
- Statistical information for planning and evaluation of disability programmes and policies [1]
- The disability dimension in development action [2]
- World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons [3]
- United Nations Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities [4]
- Platform for Action and the Beijing Declaration of the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995) [5] (Spanish)
- Human Rights and Disabled Persons, report of the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities [6]
- Report of the World Conference on Human Rights (Vienna, 1993) [7]
- Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio de Janiero, 1992) [8]
2. Understanding the International Classifications of Impairment, Disability, and Handicaps (ICIDH)
- History of ICIDH (http://www.who.ch/msa/mnh/ems/icidh/icidh.htm)
- Importance of ICIDH in relationship to disability communities and environmental issues
- How can interested disability communities participate in the ICIDH revision process as well as better use this document
Day four (23 August 1997)
1. The importance of working with your government to further implementation of international norms and standards concerning persons with disabilities
- Use of United Nations documents to lobby for your rights with your government
- How to work with other NGOs and delegates from various countries to strength your mission
- How to work with the United Nations to prepare a document to be presented as a resolution that represents concerns of your organization
2. Issues related to women with disabilities
- Women's conferences and programmes in the United Nations
- Women's programme in DPI 4. The 1998 Fifth DPI World Assembly in Mexico City
- Objectives of the Fifth DPI World Assembly
- Planning for the Fifth DPI World Assembly
- What the DPI Mexico National Assembly can do to prepare for the Fifth DPI World Assembly
- How can other disability organizations in Mexico contribute to the Fifth DPI World Assembly
- How to use the Fifth DPI World Assembly to promote accessibility and equalization of opportunities by, for and with people with disabilities
- Expected outcomes of the Fifth DPI World Assembly
Participants at the Tepic workshop tested and evaluated a training and resource manual on identifying and eliminating various barriers that can impede participation by persons with disabilities in social life and development. The training manual was compiled by DPI in collaboration with affiliated organizations in Central America 9].
The United Nations Latin American Institute on the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders (ILANUD) has published the manual as a monograph of its Programme on Women, Justice and Gender in collaboration with Disabled Peoples' International and the National Council on Rehabilitation and Special Education of Costa Rica, Eliminando barreras construyendo oportunidades (San José, Costa Rica: ILANUD, Programa Mujer, Justicia y Género, 1997).
An end-of-workshop survey indicated that over ninety percent of the participants were satisfied with the knowledge gained and opportunities for information sharing and exchange. The pre-conference training and exchange programme was judged to be particularly successful in terms of objectives accomplished and network relationships established and strengthened.
Participants in the training workshop and technical exchange were a diverse group. About one-third of the participants were women with disabilities as well as non-disabled women. There were a large number of governmental officials with disabilities who serve as liaison persons with organizations of people with disabilities, leaders of national and state-level disability organizations in Mexico, and a large number of local leaders who had been identified by their respective state-level organizations. Participants in the training and exchange included persons with various disabilities: mobility impairments, visual disabilities and hearing disabilities as well as persons with mental disabilities and parents of children with disabilities. All participants contributed a great deal of practical knowledge and experience to the planning for the Fifth DPI World Assembly, which is acknowledged with considerable appreciation.
1 Manual for the Development of Statistical Information for Disability Programmes and Policies, Statistics on Special Population Groups (ST/ESA/STAT/SER.Y/8) (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.96.XVII.4).
2 Ronald Wiman and others, The Disability Dimension in Development Action; Manual on Inclusive Planning (Helsinki, National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health in Finland on behalf of the United Nations, 1996).
3 United Nations document A/37/351/Add.1 and Add.1/Corr.1, annex.
4 General Assembly resolution 48/96, annex.
5 United Nations document A/CONF.177/20, chap. I, resolution 1, annexes I and II.
6 United Nations publication, Sales No. E.92.XIV.4 and corrigendum.
7 United Nations document A/CONF.157/24 (Part I), chap. III.
8 United Nations publication, Sales No. E.93.I.8 and corrigendum.
9] Compilation of the training manual for the Workshop involved the following persons and organizations: Disabled Peoples' International, and Lucy Wong Hernández, Executive Director, DPI; Programme on Women, Justice and Gender of the United Nations Latin American Institute for Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (ILANUD); National Council for Rehabilitation and Special Education of Costa Rica; Mr. Rodrigo Jiméniz Sandovol, DPI Latin American Regional Chairperson (editor of the manual). Compilation and testing of the manual received support from the United Nations Voluntary Fund on Disability (co-financing workshop participants); Danish Programme for Human Rights for Central America (technical support); and Canadian International Development Agency (institutional support for DPI).